Eat Well Without Stressing About It

Diet and acne is such a complicated issue! Complicated because there is so much theory out there as to how and why what we eat is related to how much acne we get. I want to make a very important note right here.

The most important thing is that you do not stress about what you eat.

I’ve become concerned by a growing pattern of eating disorders in women who are eating for their skin. So if you are feeling any emotions of guilt, anxiety or shame for what you’re putting into your body, then hopefully this information will clear a few things up for you so that you can start enjoying your food again.

The relationship between food and acne

What we eat and how our skin responds is not as black and white as we think. There seem to be three main problems:

Many people on the Internet claim to have found the “answer” when really they tried something that worked for their unique body and constitution, so it won’t necessarily work for you. This can be confusing!

If we have an underlying “condition” that is causing us acne, then eating the wrong foods can sometimes make this problem worse. We can then believe that the food is giving us acne, when it’s not quite the case. Fix the root problem and you can likely eat that food again without experiencing a breakout.

If you truly believe that a food is going to give you acne then it probably will.

Let’s look at each one, and then we’ll look at some diet suggestions.

Don’t follow someone else’s “diet”, eat intuitively

Diet is a dirty word, it creates stress and restriction and let’s be honest, being on a diet is never a fun thing. It’s also very important to understand that there is no one diet that will work for everyone, especially when it comes to healing the skin.

My advice to you is to stick to an organic, wholefoods diet with as much variety as possible. Choose foods that you love and enjoy! Eat it raw or cook it … it doesn’t matter if you’re eating fresh, lovely whole organic foods. Want to step it up? Then you can start adding things in from there.

When there are exceptions

It’s rare, but sometimes serious food allergies can cause acne. If you feel this is you then get some allergy testing done. There are many types of allergy testing and keep in mind that sometimes your body is sensitive to a food that it will eventually grow out of, or the sensitivity is only mild. Blood testing picks up the big allergies while kineseology testing can pick up every minor little reaction. Avoid the big ones and you’ll be okay. When it comes to your acne the minor allergies are very unlikely to be the direct cause of your acne.

Sugars and simple carbohydrates (the big one)

If you have an excess of androgens, androgen sensitivity or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), then your acne will likely improve considerably with a reduction of the sugars and simple carbohydrates in your diet.

The link between these foods and acne is actually quite simple. The digestion of sugars and simple carbohydrates can lead to a rapid increase in insulin and the insulin like growth factor (IGF-1). This is even more the case for those of us who typically have a fast metabolism OR insulin resistance (insulin resistance occurs when the cells of the body become resistant to insulin and unable to use it as effectively). Raised levels of IGF-1 can lead to raised levels of androgens – which is one of the leading causes of acne. If we have too high levels of androgens then our skin can produce way too much sebum, which then of course can get clogged in the skin as whiteheads and blackheads and create the beginning of acne inflammations.

You can get saliva testing done to see if you do have elevated levels of androgens, or you could simple try reducing the amount of sugars and simple carbohydrates you consume (which to be honset is a great thing for everyone to do anyway for our health and well being!). If you do get testing done just keep in mind that you can still have androgen sensitivity even if your levels come back normal.

What are simple carbohydrates?

There are two types of simple carbohydrates: monosaccharides and disaccharides. Monosaccharides consist of only one sugar, and Disaccharides consist of two chemically linked monosaccharides.

Simple carbohydrates include most sugars and we already know to reduce those. Other examples include white flours and milk. This is the main reason why a lot of acne information advises to cut or reduce milk, because of the lactose sugars it contains.

While foods like honey, fruits and some vegetables are classed as simple carbohydrates, they also contain many wonderful vitamins and minerals so we actually want to keep them in our diet in moderation. The simple carbohydrates that we want to reduce as much as we can include those that provide us with very little to no nutritional value, such as processed table sugars and white flours.

Remember reducing simple carbohydrates also includes all foods that contains these whole ingredients, for example breads, cakes etc.

If you want to get serious about reducing your sugar intake for a while then I recommend using yacón syrup and natural stevia leaves (if you can get dried leaves that’s ideal) as alternative sweeteners. You can also use xylitol if it’s made from birch, not corn. You can read more about sugar alternatives in this blog post – What Are The Best Sweeteners To Use On A Low Sugar Diet?

What does eating intuitively mean?

Eating for the skin is all about eating intuitively. It’s a combination of learning what is good for your body and what is good for your emotional health. The basic principles of eating intuitively include:

Eat foods that make you feel physically good! Once you start “tuning in” to everything you eat then you’ll quickly learn what foods make you feel good and what foods don’t. It’ll then make it really easy to stick with eating just the “good feeling foods”.

Put positive intentions and affirmations into what you eat – don’t put something into your body that you’re feeling crummy about. However usually it’s not about your food, it’s about your mindset. More about that later.

If you’re finding a high sensitivity to foods then once you apply the treatment techniques from this website you’ll likely find some relief and therefore be able to have a lot more leeway with what you eat.

One example is if you have raised cortisol levels (the stress hormone) then consuming stimulants like coffee, black tea or even chocolate could contribute to raising these levels a little more and then making the root problem of your acne worse. Once your cortisol levels are back to a normal range, then it’s likely you’ll be able to enjoy coffee (in moderation) without experiencing so much of a trigger to your stress levels or your acne.

If you truly believe that a food is going to give you acne then it probably will

Mindset is huge. We’re powerfully creative beings that can in fact create whatever we want. But our subconscious often gets in the way so it’s much easier to create acne (because often we actually believe deep down for it to be true) than to clear it.

What you believe and what you think about what you’re eating is hugely important. If you’re about to put food into your mouth that you really believe is going to give you acne or potentially will give you acne then just don’t eat it. Work on shifting your belief patterns to instead consciously and unconsciously believe that that food will instead nurture your heart, mind and soul to create more peace and joy in your life. Before you eat a food set this intention, add this vibration into your food. If there is any doubt then work on it! The idea is not to go without or to eat less, the idea it to feel really great about what we’re eating, no matter what you choose to eat.

I have a health background and promote organic whole foods, but that is my decision. Decide what you would like in your diet for yourself and don’t let anybody else judge you for it. But especially – make sure that you don’t judge yourself.

Gut & Digestive Health

Have you ever been to a natural therapist who has told you that you need to work on your gut or digestive health? The problem with being told this is that most of us don’t really understand how it relates to our acne and how making our digestive system healthier will make our skin clearer too. Without this motivate we’re unlikely to stick to a digestive health treatment plan. Part of my intention with this website is to empower you with the knowledge to understand exactly how each part of your body is related to your acne. And my hope is with this knowledge you’ll then have the motivation to stick with a plan to get clear.

How our gut and digestive health is related to our acne

The deeper you get into understanding this work the more you realise that every part of our body is intricately linked. When we look at one area of our system, then often it’s linked to another. Our gut and digestive health is one great example because it’s so closely linked to our hormones and therefore the acne we’re working towards healing.

Beta-Glucuronidase

When we have an imbalance in our gut and digestive system, such as an overgrowth of Candida, parasites, bad bacteria or fungi, then we can produce excess levels of the enzyme beta-glucuronidase. This enzyme has the ability to prevent the excretion of estrogens that are ready for elimination, so that they reabsorb back into the body. The result is either too much estrogen and/or a build up of toxic bad estrogens. Read more about bad estrogens in the Balance Your Estrogen section of this website.

How to improve your gut and digestive health

Adding more raw foods to your diet will help to add in more natural digestive enzymes to your system. Also consider taking a good quality plant based digestive enzyme supplement.

Adding in top quality probiotics are also always a great idea. If you can afford it go top shelf and opt for the best quality probiotic you can find. When it comes to probiotics better quality does make a big difference.

Stomach Acid

Ensuring your have adequate levels of stomach acid is one of the best ways to improve your digestive health. Having enough stomach acid will help your body to better digest food and absorb minerals, and therefore function at a much more optimal level. This article explains why stomach acid is so important. It also includes how to do a simple at home test to see if you are low, and how to naturally increase your stomach acid levels – The Acid Test.

You an also talk to your health store or a natural therapist about going on a gut cleanse program. If however from reading this website you are already making significant changes to your diet, then I recommend you hold off on a gut cleansing program for about three months to allow for your new diet changes to assimilate into your new lifestyle and body. We want to keep things gentle and simple!

A note on Candida diets:

I have seen the worst cases of eating disorders from Candida diets for the skin. In my personal opinion Candida diets are one of the most difficult and most intense diets to be on if done properly. Remember that we naturally and healthily all have Candida in our system, it’s just when it becomes an overgrowth that it becomes unhealthy. Before you launch yourself into a Candida diet try instead sticking to a low sugar and low simple carbohydrate diet (which is the recommendation for healing the skin anyway), and see if that works. If you have tried everything and your skin is still breaking out, then look into deepening your digestive and gut healing with the potential of a Candida cleanse.

The Anti-Androgen Detox

After consulting with many, many women who needed to go on a temporary anti-androgen detox, I decided to create this easy to follow guide. This detox is the best way to eat for clearing acne, and I recommend it to all women who are going on their clear skin journey.

The detox is only six weeks because that is enough time to monitor how your skin responds to this way of eating. After the six week period is up, you can then begin to add in foods one-by-one that you took out, to further monitor how your skin responds.

You can do this diet eating meat or as a vegetarian or vegan. My personal long term diet is the vegetarian version of this detox, with moderation. When I first begin eating like this I thought that perhaps it would only be for about one month, but after the month I felt so good and my skin looked so good that I stayed on it indefinitely!!

We can work together on Email or Skype from anywhere in the world. In our appointment I’ll let you know what the root cause of your acne is, and then the best treatment plan for it. The idea is to get you clear as quickly as possible!

These Email or Skype appointments save you a lot of time, guess work, and of course money – no longer will you use the wrong treatments or supplements.

Click here to book in your appointment or to find out more about what they entail.

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JillMay 12, 2016, 12:29 am

Hi Fran, I’m wondering if you have any knowledge about Keratosis Pilaris. I think that a lot of my acne isn’t actually acne because it usually coincides with a flare up of KP (which unfortunately covers most of my body), though only my face gets inflamed. Do you have any thoughts? Much appreciated 🙂

Thanks so much for your website and your blog. It’s all very helpful and I love the spirit underlying it.

I followed the anti-androgen diet for six weeks at the start of september and got good results from it. But then, I tried a more relax version of it (including buckwheat bread and pasta, dried fruits, some wine occasionnally, raw organic butter, dark chocolate, and some “cut out” foods on occasions and week-ends out), and the acne seems to stagnate while it was decreasing when I was on a strict version of this diet.

I recently consulted a micro-nitritionnist who did some blood testing for food sensitivity, and candida overgrowth, as well as other tests related to the digestive sphere. I’m on the edge of sensitivity for cow dairies and eggs (not sensitiv though) but all the rest is fine. And I was positiv level 3 out of 4 for candida overgrowth. My gut shows some inflammation and damages as a consequence of this overgrowth. The therapist asked me to follow a candida diet which pretty much looks like your anti-androgen diet, she didn’t asked me to be very strict like we can sometimes see on the internet for candida diets, just to cut out all sorts of refined sugar (I’m allowed to have two pieces of fruit a day) and to lower the intake of carbohydrates to one meal a day in a small portion (she was not even specific on which kind of carbohydrates I could include, it seems pretty open, but from my experience, it seems quinoa and sweet potatoes works better with me than other carbs). The rest is a bit similar to your anti-androgen diet: two parts of protein a day, lots of vegetables, good fats, etc. She didn’t tell me anything about nuts, legumes etc. so I assume it’s ok.

I’m supposed to stick to this diet for at least six months, while taking the herbs to get rid of the excess of candida. And my question was: have you witnessed people following a strict version of the anti-androgen diet for six months? Is it fine to do so? Does it help for candida overgrowth too? Also, I had some deficiencies in iodin, zinc and vitamin D, so I am taking supplements for those, but I was wondering if a good multivitamin with selenium and vitamins B would be good too? Some websites say it’s not good for candida overgrowth, others say the contrary…

PS: Some precisions on the supplements I am currently on: I take probiotics in the morning, iodin, zinc and vitamin D during breakfast, I take grapefruit seeds extract after tooth brushing twice a day, and chlorophyll at night.
Do you see anything else that could help on this side?

Hi Anais, yes absolutely, I did it myself.. but as a vegetarian 🙂 I intended to only do it for 1 month but felt so good that I was on it strictly for several months. It’s safe, and a great way to eat. The only thing to watch for is to not be too afraid or anxious about introducing the other foods back in slowly after the 6 months. You do not want to create an eating disorder.

And yes, with additional herbal help, it will help with Candida also. A B Complex is excellent to take for balancing hormones, and selenium is good for the skin so go for it.

Yes absolutely!!! And thank you for what you are doing for the animals and the planet 🙂 I have been healthy strict vegetarian for years, so yes it is possible. To be a healthy vegan supplement with B12, B Complex and K2. Also make sure to have some vegan saturated fats daily (coconut oil is the easiest option). The only other thing I recommend for a vegetarian and vegan diet, is to watch the intake of phytic acids, which can be high in these diets. So soak and sprout your nuts, seeds and grains if consuming them!

The part on phytic acids is very helpful! I had never thought about that. And when I bought some protein powder to add to my breakfasts, I chose hemp powder, as it is said to contain less phytic acids than soy or peas powders.

Hi fran, even if I don’t touch or pick at my spots, they still leave a red mark (hyperpigmentation). The pigmentation on my cheeks takes forever to fade- much longer than pigmentation on my forehead or even chin. Why do the cheeks take so long to heal? I just started using msm cream

I’ve been told that bean, tofu, and seaweed can be a root for acne. However, I’m a big fan of those three. I also eat miso soup every single day too. I don’t know if it’s true or not? I’m so concerned. Thanks for your help!

Hi Fran, I am a 17 year old female – highly stressed out and suffering from the most awful breakout I’ve ever experienced. It has been awful for the last 3 months specifically, after having really clear skin since the beginning of the year! Ive been on BCP and Doxycycline, all worked temporarily, but obviously didn’t work completely! I would LOVE to book a consultation with you but I am a student atm with NO money, so I am reading all your posts and hoping to get whatever advice that I can. I am so overwhelmed by everything out there. I really want to try and clear my skin naturally, but sometimes i feel living caving in and going on BCP again OR accutane. My skin is killing me. I cry. I live in darkness (LITERALLY- I DONT TURN LIGHTS ON!) And i avoid absolutely all reflections of myself. I truly am a mess. I avoid school etc you get the picture ! I am a vegetarian (who eats fish occasionally!) I have cut down my intake of Gluten, I have a MOSTLY healthy diet (very rarely eat fatty or sugary foods) I drink a TONNE of water, I drink healthy teas, I DO NOT DRINK SOFT DRINKS OR COFFEE EVER! I avoid dairy 95% of the time… I try to treat my skin as best i can but sometimes i get so overwhelmed with what facial products to use….. Im at a loss. Im desperate. Its taking over my life. My acne is torturing me, Im meant to be studying for exams right now but instead I am on the internet desperately searching for answers. i’ve worked with an acupuncturist with no results…. I’m just so so so stressed. Any help from you would be greatly appreciated!

I’m Greta. I’m eighteen years old and have been coping with a similar situation to yours for awhile now. I would say I’m an easily stressed person and have suffered from severe acne since sixth grade. Just this past year, my stress has started to effect not only my acne, but it has been a cause of some major hair loss and serious health issues. I want to encourage you to take a breath. I’m talking to myself as well as you. Acne is not the end of the world, as I have had to tell myself repeatedly with many of the struggles I’ve faced. It is something that can and will be reversed, and although it is difficult right now, it is ultimately character building and you are going to get through it. And when you get through it, you will not only be a beautiful confident woman with clear skin, but a beautiful confident young woman with compassion for those struggling around you and a gratitude for the things you have gotten through. Also, it is important to remember that you are not alone. SO many people, teenagers and adults alike, struggle with acne! It is a difficulty, but nothing you cannot adjust to. Life goes on. So take a breath and realize, this is something you are going to get through.

Additionally, it’s important to realize that your stress coping skills and mindset are VITAL to life! Have you ever heard the quote, “Life is 10% what happens to you, 99% how you deal with it?” It is so true! Coping with this acne is one of the many struggles you are going to face in this life, and so I suggest that you develop some positive stress coping mechanisms. At this age, I know everything seems like a big deal. A huge deal. The end of the world. I get it. But really, it’s not. You will cope with clearing your acne better by attaining a clear mindset, something that yoga, meditation, or exercise can be helpful in achieving. Your stress is excess energy. It is waste. And it’s producing waste that is coming through your skin, and it’s wearing your body down.

So I would suggest that you begin by re-assessing your mindset, and continuing to do so throughout your journey. And regarding the healthy face cleansers, I would suggest Beauty Without Cruelty (BWC)’s facial cleanser for normal to oily skin. And use a mud mask a few times a week with apple cider vinegar. I use Aztec Calcium Bentonite clay, which comes in a powder form that’s cheap as dirt (haha dirt, get it?) and works wonderfully for cleaning pores.

These are things that I have found to be beneficial in my own struggles with acne. Hope that I’ve been helpful!

Hi Fran, I was afraid to come to the “eating well” page of your website. My seemingly never-ending research on how to achieve clear skin has left me with a fear of food, and feelings of uncertainty or guilt any time I eat something that isn’t a vegetable. Being a sugar addict and a binge eater has made all of this even harder. I wish I had it in me to eat like a saint all the time, but.. I just don’t. I try to keep to a low sugar low carb diet, but I stray from it on occasion. It’s refreshing to hear your approach to this topic. I know I need to get back to a more holistic mind set, stop fearing foods and take care of some other things as well.
Also- so excited to try cleansing with hemp seed oil.
Thank you for your advice!

I’m curious to know when a pimple has developed on our skin, & if it is left alone, how does our body heal it?, what is the natural way our body & skin deals with a pimple lesion? Can you give me a step by step summary.

Actually every step of the process of an inflammation is the body healing itself. If you recognise that the inflammation is the skin purging a clogged/infected sebum plug out of the skin, then the inflammation is there for an excellent reason!

Hi Fran, I’m curious as to what your thoughts are about detoxing with Bentonite Clay. Do you, or have you used it to help treat acne? Internally and externally. Do you think it could help to eliminate bad estrogen? Also, I have to say, what a fabulous website! By far the best site on treating acne (especially adult acne), that I have seen. Cheers!

Hi Cherie, yes I do have experience with using bentonite clay both internally and externally. I haven’t seen any research on its ability to remove bad estrogens and don’t feel that it would be able to do this BUT it’s brilliant at getting rid of toxins in the body so still a great additional tool for your acne treatment.

I have been personally taking Diatomaceous Earth daily which I like a little better because of its high silica content.

Hi there, I am hoping you can advise me on rebalancing my hormones. I have elevated androgens with a DHA S of 10.7 ng/ll and 17OH progesterone of 3.1ng/ml. This doesn’t mean anything to me, but my doctor has prescribed 6 months to 1 year on Diane35. I have some acne on my chin and hairs which grow on my neck and a slight loss of hair in a male pattern. My skin improves when I eat less sugar and simple carbs. I am nervous to take the pill having stopped several years ago. I felt that taking it made me emotionally more fragile and I was pleased to stop it. I am 35 years old, don’t have children, am 170cm and weigh 61 kgs. I would really appreciate any advice you could offer. I am currently cutting down on sugar and carbs and taking a multi vitamin and flax seed oil. I should be starting my first pack of Diane35 at the end of the month, but wondered whether there isn’t perhaps a better way for me to clear up my symptoms.
Many thanks for any advice you can offer.
Karina

I can’t evaluate your hormones properly without seeing a copy of the results.

I can definitely help you balance your hormones without having to take the pill – in my opinion the pill is just making the problem worse in the long term. DHEAS can be brought down with a combination of EstroBlock and Cell Stabilizer combined with a grain free diet.

We can talk about your progesterone if you want to book in an appointment.

I recommend that you switch flax oil for a different omega-3 – flax has an estrogen component.

Wow, Fran! Thank you for the reminder that everyone’s body is different and that what seems to work for some people might not work the same for others. It is also very interesting to think about how your mind can link a certain food with breakouts or healing of acne.

I am now 33. Over the past few years, I have working up to eating healthier and healthier (I think.) This past summer I tried doing a raw diet cleanse for 2 weeks. I bought a meal plan online and tried my best to follow all the recipes. I found it to be a lot of work and gradually went back to old eating habits. Then in autumn, I found out about people who are eating a raw diet with large amounts of fruit during the day in order to get enough calories through carbohydrates, and also being extra careful with food combinations, limiting fats and only eating them at night along with greens.(HCLFRV) They say that when sugars are eaten with fats, the fat coats the sugar and does not get broken down properly, and that our bodies do not need much fats and proteins. I tried this for a few weeks as it seemed easier than planning specific recipes, but I missed cooked food and began to eat high carb gluten free foods at night like potatoes, corn pasta, or rice also with cooked veggies or salad (still following their high carb low fat way). The people who eat this way have support pages on Facebook and say that eating this way is the best for digestion and will cure acne and hormonal imbalances, even issues like PCOS and diabetes. One woman claims that the only way her cystic acne went away was when she completely eliminated salt, nuts and seeds from her diet and went fully raw.

If I really listen to my body, I don’t feel right following these strict diets, but it has taught me to eat more fruits and vegetables and to drink lots of water. I stopped eating meat in May (except for about 2 slip ups -seafood/chicken) and I avoid dairy and processed foods as much as possible. I rarely drink alcohol, as I found it to majorly aggravate my acne, and the most caffeine I get is occasional tea or cacao/chocolate. My skin is clearer than it was in the past, but I am still not totally satisfied with occasional breakouts. It is actually quite dry and saggy/wrinkly now (but it is winter). I use water and hemp oil to cleanse and argan oil to moisturize. I wonder if my diet is part of the problem – trying to find the right balance in all of this.

It’s difficult to find what is the best advice to follow when everyone has a different opinion. I wonder if I am getting the right amount of the right kind of fats and if I am following a proper lower glycemic index diet that would help with “lean PCOS.” Do you have a link that discusses what exactly low GI entails? What do you think about eating a lot of carbohydrates found in fruit or roots or grains if not combined with fats? And the benefits of fats in the diet?

Thank you so much for all of your input! I really love your blog and all of the information you share. x

Thank you Kristen for writing this comment, I have half written a book on this topic and it encourages me to keep going with it soon. The diet industry has caused so much stress and pressure within us and taking a lot of the joy out of eating. And for people to say that any one strict diet will work for everyone is just wrong – we are all so unique with our constitutions which makes our body work with and digest food in different ways. I’ve studied Ayurveda a little and that is the perfect example of a very ancient healing modality that honors that our bodies are all so different and that our diets need to be altered from person to person with respect to that.

First thing is to be more gentle with yourself and what you eat. Absolutely that’s the number one more important thing. You do not (do not!!) have to be on a raw food diet in order to clear your skin or manage your PCOS. In fact what I know about PCOS a raw food diet can not help at all unless you do it right because of the often high quantities of fructose sugars.

I also feel that eating meat is actually good for us and I would personally eat more of it if it wasn’t for ethical reasons 🙂

I would really like to be able to talk with you about this in a Skype session if you’re up for it, and work towards healing your skin and PCOS at the same time. I’m likely going to have a sale on consultations after christmas but if you email me now I’ll see what I can do.. I’m determined to help you with this!!

After I would say about 4 days, I noticed a dramatic difference!! Nearly all the blotches went down in size and redness, and my skin began to clear. Now 3 weeks later, my skin is as clear as it has ever been! Thanks so much for your help Fran, you really helped me overcome this embarrassing condition and I have now been free from it for about 3 weeks!